Derek Ross(128 posts)

I am an Android Enthusiast. I’m on the pulse of the latest Android news and write content about Android daily. I’m constantly scouring the Internet for the latest Android news, apps, games, Android ROMs, hacks, security, tips, tutorials and mobile devices. I’m a large supporter of our beloved Android Community and am always willing to help with anything Android related, just ask.

All posts by Derek Ross

Most Recent

HTC Thunderbolt Android Ice Cream Sandwich Leak

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has been long promised for the Verizon HTC Thunderbolt. HTC told us back in May that we should see something in June or July. Earlier this month HTC updated Thunderbolt owners again, moving their timeline to the end of August. It looks like they may just be on target after all.

Team BAMF has managed to get a hold of a leaked ROM for the HTC Mecha aka Thunderbolt. It’s build number 7.00.605.2 and running Android 4.0.3. Everything is fully functional in this ROM including 3g, 4g, phone calls, sms, mms and more. HTC Sense has been updated to version 3.6 which is a substantial update over the original Sense 2.1 that came with [...]

16

CyanogenMod 10 Boot Animation Available for Download

Last night the author of the last few CyanogenMod boot animations, 73v1n, graced the world with a completely revamped boot animation for CyanogenMod 10. The CyanogenMod 9 boot animation featured the CyanogenMod mascot, Cid, which seemed to generate a lot of rage from many CM fans. During the bootup process, Cid’s facial expression changed a bit, looking angry, bad, evil (or bad ass) depending whom you ask. Learning a thing or two since last time, the author decided to completely redo the boot boot animation, removing all traces of Cid, version numbers, and making it as clean as possible.

Since the last time I made one of these, I realized that boot animations [...]

We started off this week on Android Authority On Air discussing various app updates from the Android world. Chameleon, everyone’s favorite Kickstarter launcher received a nice update this week. Chameleon now has the ability to add custom wallpaper and you’ll be happy to know that more widgets are coming thanks to the recently implemented widget APIs. If you’re into “Pinning” things, the social network Pinterest launched their Android app this week. Google Maps received a hefty update, over 1 million public transit stops are now available along with improved displays for location history. If you’re into applying filters to your photos, [...]

138

“E-Z Unlock” App to Unlock Your Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 Bootloader

Yesterday, Samsung Galaxy S3 owners were graced with the ability to flash an insecure bootloader onto their "locked" devices, paving the way for full phone customization. Today, that method got much, much easier with the release of an EZ Unlock App.

10817

Verizon’s Samsung Galaxy S3 Unsecure Bootloader Released

Yes, you read the title correctly. Thanks to elite, recognized XDA developer Adam Outler, the Verizon variant of the Samsung Galaxy S3 can now join the ranks of other SGS3's with a fully unlocked bootloader. This is an amazing achievement for the entire community, allowing Verizon users to root their device, flash the unsecured bootloader, and opening the device for complete customization.

HP TouchPad gets Android Jelly Bean via CM10 Preview Release

If you were lucky enough to get an HP TouchPad this time last year during their "fire sale" for $99 (16GB) or the $149 (32GB) your Android luck hasn't run out yet. Remember, Android first came to the HP TouchPad via CM7, Gingerbread. A few months later, Android 4.0 came to the HP TouchPad, bringing a true tablet UI to the 10" popular slate. The CyanogenMod development community continues to grace the HP TouchPad, this time with Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean showing up via an unofficial CM10 preview release.

5302

Android Authority On Air – Episode 24 – Weekly News Recap (aka back from the beach!)

As you may have noticed, we didn’t air our normally scheduled On Air live broadcast last Friday night. Yours truly was soaking up the sand, salt water, and sun at the beach. I thought about bringing my notebook and doing an On Air – Beach Edition broadcast. However, I decided to ditch the notebook for a week and fully enjoy my Nexus 7 as my main computing device. And let me tell you, it was amazing (the vacation and the tablet). The Nexus 7 is the prefect vacation computer. It accomplished everything I needed it to and being extremely portable, this tablet made it hassle free.

While I was off on vacation, as usual, the Android world moved forward. Verizon now [...]

6

Android Authority On Air – Episode 23 – Live with Chameleon

This week, we dig into Android’s latest launcher, Chameleon, along with this week’s special guest Phill, from their development team. Screen real estate, widgets, and home screens based on a context system make Chameleon extremely powerful. Chameleon, now in private beta, will soon be launching an SDK system to allow developers from all walks of life to create additional widgets. Don’t worry Kickstarter backers, you’ll be getting your invites in the next few days. Chameleon has a lot of potential and they keep adding functionality. Keep an eye on this application, it’s going to get better.

Nexus 7 Commercial Series: Jelly Bean Tips

Another day, another Nexus 7 commercial from Google. Today’s Nexus 7 commercial centers around the Android Jelly Bean 4.1.1 popular features and a few useful tips and tricks.

In Jelly Bean, you’ll have a hard time circumventing the face unlock feature after you enable ‘blink check’ which asks the user to blink, determining if a human is being used to unlock the phone instead of a photograph. Next, they highlight Google Now, arguably one of the best features of Jelly Bean. Google Now gives you just the right information to you when you need it, automatically. Next, they demo Voice Search, also known as the “Siri competitor” which just [...]